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Olie Fiscalini, left, Kathleen Fiscalini Gerhardt and her daughter Debbie Soto proud of restored stove

Original Stove Finds its Way Back to Its Schoolhouse
Submitted by Debbie Soto

​Restoring our country schools is an arduous task and we scour antique stores to furnish our museums in the style of days gone by. Sometimes we get lucky and find original artifacts that were actually connected to the schoolhouse itself. Here, CSAA member Debbie Soto, shares a unique story of one such forgotten stove...

...An antique rusty woodstove from the 1880s was stored away in an old farm shed after being removed from the Santa Rosa schoolhouse in the 1940s. It was replaced with a more efficient oil burning heater to keep students warm.  The old woodstove was overlooked and forgotten for almost 80 years when a little known family tip was revealed. Debbie’s uncle, Olie Fiscalini, told her that he still had the woodstove in his shed. His father, Olimpio Fiscalini Sr., had put it in the shed years earlier and it set there ever since. The stove was buried under years of debris and other junk.

With this newly discovered tidbit, everyone was energized to have the stove restored and placed back into the schoolroom. The community rallied together and two young men, Brian and Paul Snow, with ties to the schoolhouse, offered to restore the stove as a gift. They spent many weekends and after hours from their busy jobs to complete this project. Now the stove is back where it belongs looking as new as it did more than 140 years ago when the schoolhouse and stove were brand new. Hallelujah! Miracles still happen!

You'll definitely want to read "the rest of the story..." so, access this link!

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BACK WHERE IT BELONGS!